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Epicurean Encounters

Nico Restaurant in San Francisco

Hawaii is a great place to live, but one of my frustrations is the lack of options when it comes to European restaurants in Honolulu. There aren’t many true Italian or French restaurants. So it is always nice to go to a city like San Francisco that has many true Italian and French restaurants. I have my favorites in San Francisco. I always have to go to Cotogna for Italian food - wood fired pizzas, meats cooked over a fire, impeccable pastas and an appropriate wine list - but I decided to venture out and find some hopefully new must-stops when I visit San Francisco.

Nico was a Michelin Star restaurant located in the Pacific Height region, but it recently moved to the Financial District more specifically Jackson Square (a few doors away from the TransAmerica Building). It serves a reasonable prix-fixe menu that features local produce and ingredients. The cooking is based in French principles, but the style is quite unique when thinking about French food. My meal didn’t have heavy sauces or rich ingredients and wasn’t exceedingly elaborate. Instead it was relatively simple and straightforward letting the fine ingredients speak for themselves. I might even go as far to say it was the healthiest French meal I can remember. It was reasonable sized portions with a lot of different vegetables. Favas were in season when I visited and they were featured prominently in the food. There was a trout roe and fava dish tat was excellent. I also had the pork loin with morel mushrooms. This dish could have easily been doused with a classic french sauce, but instead it was just the au jus of pork which was intensely flavorful and provided in just the right amount to make the pork and morels take center stage.

I spoke briefly with the GM and his wine list doesn’t have a lot of main stream popular wines on it. Even for me, I barely recognized some of the producers on his list. However, I knew he knew his wines, and the list looked interesting because it is unique. So if you are going to order wine off the list, have an open mind and be prepared to be surprised.

I visited Nico the first week it opened up in its new location and was able to secure a seat at the bar with no problem. However, I think when the patrons from the old location realize it has reopened and all the financial district realizes it is open, it will be more difficult to get a seat. If you are looking for a reasonably priced prix-fixe French menu with emphasis on the ingredients, Nico is definitely worth the effort.